


This ain't no place for no better man

by trinarydawn



Series: Guardians & co [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Gen, Multi, No romo or smut stuff Yet, Other, Post TTK, Tiamat is the central character of this work so like., but stay tuned, pre destiny 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-04 17:51:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15152474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trinarydawn/pseuds/trinarydawn
Summary: The taken war is over, but peace is still far. While the City hails the King-slayer, many ghosts still keep searching for those worthy of their light. Some might never find them, some might no be entirely sure they chose well. Some... Well, some are more certain that their Guardian will be the end of them with each passing second. But that's what they were created for, was it not?





	This ain't no place for no better man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebirths are often messy, at least that's what they've heard from other Ghosts and their Guardians. Memory loss, initial reliving of trauma, violent waking from those with abnormally violent deaths... There were a number of possible issues.
> 
> Still, they didn't expect this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay, first chapter is now complete. Hope y'all enjoy it somewhat.

Even among the desert, the desolation and loneliness of the dunes, life finds its way. The white drone that hovers over the Martian sands is certain of it. They can feel it, the pull of the worthy, tugging at them, almost like asking desperately for their Light. They know they must be close: the Light within their core feels like it is about to burst. The Ghost slows down, scanning every inch of the ground below them. 

Dusk comes before they get a positive response, but once it is there… Once it is there a hand rises from the sand, thrashing towards the air, attempting to hold onto something, anything, to get above ground. It doesn’t take long for the chosen to completely pull her body out, and the same hand that before reached towards the sky now grabbed the Ghost in a swift motion, pressing it against the sand, as if threatening to bury it.

That gets a complaint out of the machine. “Hey, watch it, Guardian! What’s this for?”

The human presses harder, not bothering to hide her frown. She feels… weird. Different. Somehow, she’s certain that she could split the drone in half if she really tried. So she speaks instead.

“Where am I? What are you? Why did you call me ‘guardian’? Speak, drone, or have whoever operates you speak, or else”, she says. Demands, more than asks.

The blue light of the Ghost’s core goes and comes again in the span of a second, something that strangely reminds the woman of a satisfied blink. _From a drone?_

“Right, yes, sorry”, replies a voice like velvet. “We are on Mars, near a Cabal firebase. I’m a Ghost. Yours, technically. And I called you Guardian because that is what you are. Chosen by the Light”.

The woman nods. “Uh. Well, if you’re gonna lie to me I guess I’ll just deactivate the machine and see what I can make out of it”, she states matter-of-factly.

The blue in the core switches momentarily again, and again it feels like it is an expression of emotion, like… indignation?

“Excuse you? Deactivate me?”, retorts the voice, and yes, it was indignation alright. “I am _your Ghost_. Not only did I revive you, you _will_ need me to do so again”.

That brings a confused expression to the woman’s face. She lets go of the drone, taking a few tumbling steps back as images flash through her mind. She sees death and carnage, and bullets raining from all sides, before it becomes too much and she falls on one knee to the sand. She can’t remember a lot, the images she had seen were just more fuel to the confusion burning on her brain.

“I– I– _Revive_ me? I was _dead_?”, she asks, incredulity in her voice despite already knowing that it was true. “What the fuck are you?”

“Yes, you were dead. And you will be again shortly unless you listen to me”, the machine says, almost like lecturing her. “I’m your Ghost, I told you already. And you are a Guardian, chosen by the Traveler to fight humaniy’s enemies. Namely, Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal, and–”. The light flickers again –in annoyance, she could swear– when she raises a hand, bidding him silence.

“Cabal. You said that name before. You said we are near a Cabal firebase”. Her tone was asking for explanations.

“Oh yes. Relatively close. One of their psions saw me when I passed by, and a small patrol has been tracking me ever since. While I was looking for you, you know. They shot at me, the barbarians”, they say, indignant once again, with what appears to be the outer shell spinning a few times around the core. Curious. “Also the reason you’ll be dead again soon, pretty sure they’re still looking for us” the machine blurts out, earning a stare from the human. “Well, for me, but that includes you now”.

At that, the human bursts out laughing. A sincere, loud laugh, like it was the funniest thing. “Good! How do we kill them?”

“We don’t. You barely have two scraps of cloth on you, not even a piece of armor, much less a weapon”, the Ghost rightly points out. “Cabal are giant alien turtles, heavily armed and armored. Psions are smaller, but they have psychic powers. You can’t win this, not here, not now”.

The woman pauses for a moment, then smiles, and, well, if the Ghost had to describe her smile… they had seen kinder smiles on the corpses of Fallen captains.

“We run then”, she states.

“Finally, som–”, starts the Ghost, though he is cut short by an order to shut up from the woman.

“We run. We find a good spot. We wait, we ambush them. I kill them all. And then you explain all of this to me, in a way that makes sense _and_ convinces me not to scrap you”, she continues, and she could swear the drone looked at her like they wanted to kill her.

“Fine. I can get you to some mountains, I got a map of the region. Follow me”.

 

* * *

 

They walk, in almost complete silence, for a while. The machine explains a couple of basic concepts along the way, trying to bring their Guardian up to speed, but for the most part she just nods. Finally, the woman speaks. “So, do you know who I am?”

“Not quite”, the voice of the Ghost reverberates inside her head. “It doesn’t work like that. I know you are you, and that’s enough. You are a Guardian. Some don’t even remember their own name, so they make one up”, they explain in a conciliatory tone.

They know –from other Ghosts, other Guardians, other stories– that being reborn without a trace of knowledge about yourself that it can be disorienting, so they tread carefully, not wanting to assume or force anything.

“You are free to do the same, whether you remember or not”, they offer, materializing themselves face to face with the woman.

She shakes her head, smiling darkly. “No. I remember. My name is Tiamat Andra. You will call me Tiamat, and you will remember, in case I forget”. She then stops moving for a moment, staring at the drone. “You say you are _my_ Ghost, right? You need a name, not gonna call you ‘Ghost’, or ‘machine’. I’ll think on it while we kill the Cabal, unless you got a suggestion”, she lets the last word dangle, like a question, an offering.

The shell of the Ghost turns, and she could swear that was a negation. “Whatever you want, G– Tiamat”.

They resume their march, and by nightfall they enter a canyon. The narrow pass gives her a tactical advantage, the Ghost says, and Tiamat chooses to trust them. After all, _they_ are trusting _her_ to kill those cabal without dying themselves. Besides, if those… Cabal really are that big, she agrees that facing them there can be beneficial. Her only weapon so far is a big rock, slightly bigger than her own fist, and the only reason she can grip it comfortably is her newfound strength. She remembers being strong, skilled, resistant. But now? Now she felt much more than the shadow she remembered. Which, if she was about to tackle giant space turtles, was a good thing. The Hunter –the machine has told her she’s a hunter, and she likes it well enough to run with it– then hides in a crevice, barely big enough for her to fit, and waits. Dawn comes, and with the new day the cabal patrol the machine had warned her about.

Tiamat waits some more, and when the last psion moves past her spot, she darts out. The rock flies towards what appears to be some kind of jetpack of another psion and lodges itself there, while she has already grabbed onto the one closest to her and broken its neck, the cracking of the bones revealing to the Guardian that psions' bones are sturdier than their appearance would suggest. The psion with the rock in the jetpack explodes and burns away with some a scream after it tries to jump away, and Tiamat finds she has no trouble ignoring the smell of burnt flesh. Without missing a beat she picks the sniper rifle from the corpse at her feet, and aims it at one of the three bigger enemies she sees in front of her, who are already firing their weapons. She dodges the first volley, and plants two rounds to the head of a cabal. Then she dodges again, and again, and again, and… the fire seems relentless, and the narrow pass, while technically a tactical advantage, has turned against her since the very same moment one of the aliens produced some kind of shield. There’s not enough space for her to gain distance between the shots and aim, her shots hit the cabal’s shield, and most slugs are a close call.

The Hunter decides to get inventive, and throws the stolen rifle at her attackers. She then runs, jumps towards one of the rocky walls and uses it as a stepping stone to position herself over the Cabal. “Phalanx”, the Ghosts voice says in her head. “Irrelevant”, she replies, aloud, at the same time she lands on the shield. The cabal tries to shake her off, and she manoeuvres over the shield to drop behind the Phalanx. The other Cabal, not shielded –“Legionary”, says the Ghost this time– waits until she touches the ground to shoot. Tiamat grins, and jumps backwards with all her strength. She thinks she’s gonna fall a bit short, land on top of the Phalanx again, but then– “Jump again, Tiamat. Pool light at your feet, and will yourself into the air once more”, says the machine. And she does. She lands right in front of the Phalanx’s shield, her sniper rifle on the ground. When the giant drops to the ground, after taking the shots from his comrade, the last thing the legionary sees is the woman pointing the rifle at him.

The drone materializes again. “We shouldn’t stay here long. I can make you some scrap armor from these guys, but it won’t be much”, they say, and Tiamat nods for all thanks. “I’ll heal you first, though”, which earns another nod as the blue-ish light washes away her wounds.

When the Ghost is done, at the very least she has clothes –armor, technically, but so light and brittle and, well, ineffectual probably, she doesn’t dare call it that–, and a weapon, though it isn’t really strong either. But it will do.

“If I’m right, there should be an abandoned lab close to us, past the canyon. Golden Age”, the drone says, looking at the woman. “We should go there, Tiamat. It’s technically off limits, Vanguard orders”. She’s pretty sure that kind of twirl of their shell means worry. “But it’s also our best choice to comm other guardians and get a ride out of here. At the very least, it can’t be much worse than the Cabal. And our other choice is infiltrating a cabal base and stealing a ship”.

The Hunter looks at her Ghost, again smiling in that way that so unsettles them. They’re starting to think that’s their genuine happy smile, which means that her definition of happiness is… fighting two psions, two legionaries and a phalanx… almost naked and without weapons? They are beginning to doubt if she’s a hunter or actually a titan.

“Good”, she says. “We go there, see what we find, break some rules in doing it right? Then we go hijack a cabal ship. Come, let’s move it!”, and she starts walking.

“Your name’s Sho, by the way. Hope you like it, cause I’m not calling you ‘Ghost’ ever again”.

Sho dematerializes, thinking that now they’re not so sure if they are actually ready to be a Guardian’s companion.

 

* * *

 

It takes them the better part of an hour to get to the laboratory. The building seems… unimpressive, in Tiamat’s opinion. Little more than four walls and a door, barely big enough to be called a room.

“The structure extends for miles underground”, Sho informs her when she puts her thoughts to words. They are scanning the door, trying to get it to open, with little luck so far.

Tiamat, meanwhile, was relatively focused on trying to pull on the Light to materialize a grenade. Sho had told her how it worked in theory, and true enough she could feel _something_ there, waiting for her to grasp it, but so far it had completely eluded her. For a moment she could swear her fingers grazed something warm, but the hissing of an opening door threw her out of the moment. The Hunter turned around, a half smile on her face.

“Good job, Sho. Let’s see what’s in there”, she says, heading in.

The lights turn on as soon as she steps into the building, revealing what appears to be a pretty austere reception room. There’s a desk with a couple of computers, a couple of broken down chairs nailed to one of the walls and an elevator door. One of the big ceiling lights flickers a couple of times before finally turning off.

“Take a look at the computers, Sho, see what you can find”, Tiamat orders, while she crouches and gets to examining the drawers under the desk. Not much there, but a broken mirror. Or something like it, anyways, some kind of reflective surface. Maybe it was a screen before. She takes the biggest piece she can find, and takes a look at her own face for the first time after he rebirth. It’s hard to see details: the glass is dirty and fractured, but she sees enough. Her hair is still that particular shade of violet blue, her skin brown, and her face still has that fluorescent skull tattooed on it. Good, that’s good. In a way, it is a relief. She might be a Guardian, reborn in Light, whatever… she is still herself. What she can remember of herself, anyways. She leaves the piece where she found it, not much more use for it, and stands up again to look at Sho.

“Well? You find anything useful in there?”, she asks, taking her hands to her hips.

“No, not quite. Elevator seems broken, and information is fractured”, the Ghost says, turning to look at their guardian. “All I’ve been able to gather is that this was a research facility, but not Bray. Which doesn’t mean anything to you, I know. I’ll explain once we get to the City”, Tiamat frowns, not liking where Sho was taking the conversation.

“I did manage to contact a Guardian flying close”, they explain. “He’s picking us up. And he’s with the Vanguard, so not too happy about us being here”.

The hunter huffs and… growls? Sho puts some distance between them, their shell turning in caution. “I know you don’t like the idea”, they hurry the words, not wanting to let Tiamat get too angry. “But trust me. You can get better weapons and armor there, better guidance to use your Light. A ship. And then we can come back. I know I can’t stop you”, they say, audibly adding “sigh” at the end of the phrase. “I only want you to be better prepared”.

Tiamat stops for a second, walking outside the room, and for a moment, while they follow her, Sho hopes she realizes their plan is the only good choice. The hope fades, however, when the hunter turns to look at them, the grim smile he’s already realized is a trait of hers again in her face.

“What if– what if I knock him out, tie him up real tight, take his guns, and go take a look down there, uh? How’s that sound?”, she asks, her tone making it obvious she’s not joking.

“Oh, well, you can’t”, Sho replies, with more certainty in their voice than Tiamat’s heard them since they met.

“I don’t care if it’s against the rules, I’ll–”, she’s cut short by the ghost, and the surprise makes her stay quiet.

“You can’t”, they repeat. “Rules have nothing to do with it, you simply can’t. The guy that’s coming? He’s practically a legend”. They pause for a moment, their shell narrowing over the front of their core in what she believes means absolute certainty. “He’ll wreck you. You can duel him, I’ve heard he always accepts. But he will wreck you”.

And that settles it for Tiamat. She _is_ going to duel him, and she _is_ going to win. There’s not much more to do other than wait for whoever is coming, so she goes back to trying to pull a grenade out of thin air.

 

* * *

 

Apparently the guy was really flying close by, because a ship starts hovering over them not long afterwards. There’s a sound, similar to the one Sho makes when appearing and disappearing, and a pink light in a geometrical pattern bathes the ground moments before a hulking figure materializes. Tiamat can’t help but think the ghost was exaggerating: sure, the pink, metallic armor is big and looks tough as hell, with spikes and fur and all that. A Titan, if she goes by what Sho explained to her earlier. But… the guy wearing it has the gentlest expression she’s ever seen. He’s handsome, probably, but his smile and his eyes look terribly soft. Wavy purple hair, darker than hers, covers part of his face, though the yellow glow of his right eye is easily seen through it. Blue skin makes him an awoken –Sho had told her about them.

The guy waves a hand at her, taking a couple steps in her direction.

“Greetings, Guardian. Your Ghost said you have been newly risen and could use assistance reaching the City. I also have to inform you that the lab you broke into is off limits, Vanguard orders”, his tone is still cordial, he is still smiling, and it is easy to tell both are genuine. Which pisses Tiamat off. 

“I will make an exception this time and not report it, given that your Ghost said both of you were unaware of that fact”, he continues. “Are you ready to depart, then?”

“Actually, she wants a duel”, Sho blurts out, earning a stare from the Hunter. They’re not wrong, but why are they collaborating with her idea after opposing it? She turns to look again at the Titan, who seems a bit shocked.

“Does your Ghost speak true, Hunter?”, he asks, and she can tell he is just trying to give her a way out of what he thinks is gonna be an embarrassment for her. Well, he’s about to be disappointed.

She smirks, confident as ever. “I want a bet, actually. If I win, you’ll let me take some of your weapons and help me explore whatever’s in there. If you win, you can take us to the City. Deal?”

The Titan’s eyes seem to light up at the proposition, and he extends a hand. “But of course! I see you have no weapons, shall we fight barehanded then?”

Tiamat arches an eyebrow, raising the rifle stolen from the psion. “Do you not see this?”

A deep laugh erupts from the man. “That was a good jest! Barehanded it is then. Come when you please”.

She looks at him, then shrugs. “Fine, I’ll indulge you”, and she adopts a fighting stance.

Not two seconds pass before she’s almost on him, right fist raised and flying towards his head. She spins in place right before impact, revealing the punch to be a feint, and a kick to his right side the real attack. Another second passes, and the Titan has Tiamat’s leg on his hand.

“Good moves!”, he compliments, perfectly sincere, while she struggles against his grip. He only tightens his hand around her sheen, however, and soon the bone breaks, rather loudly. What she feels the most are, probably, the myriad little splinters digging into her flesh. Still, the crack of the bone is louder than her. The Titan, without letting go, spins in place as she did before, dragging Tiamat around like he’s going to throw her. Instead, he slams her back first against the ground, and she could swear her spine’s broken, and the taste in her mouth is definitely blood. The last thing she sees is his boot on her neck.

She opens her eyes again, finding the other Guardian right in front of her. His Ghost is wiping the blood of his armor with that blue light they have.

“You killed me!” It is accusatory, and angry. She feels she has all the right to be. He seems a little confused.

“I did indeed. Is it an issue?”, he questions, before realization fills his eyes. “Oh. That was your first death, was it not? Do not fret, you will get used to the feeling of resurrection. Ready to go to the city, then?”

She growls –and Sho could swear it is a growl, a proper animal growl–, and then nods.

“Bet’s a bet”, she says, and crosses her arms.

“Good. I am Isake, and this is Au”. He is pointing to a recently materialized Ghost, the shell rugged, but still the same metallic pink as his armor.

“I’m Tiamat, they’re Sho”. It seemed only right to introduce themselves after the other two had, though her tone is still reticent.

The man nods, turns and takes a few steps towards his ship. “Take us home, Au”.

 

* * *

 

Their trip to the tower isn’t long, and they spend it in silence for the most. Tiamat’s playing with a knife –a gift from the Titan. “No Hunter is a true Hunter without at least one knife. Several, according to some sources”. He was too nice, and she made a face at him when he insisted she take the weapon, but eventually she conceded. It was better than nothing, at least. Sho had explained some other guardian basics to her, but it felt like they really didn’t know much either.

Of course, when they transmat into the tower, Isake offers to help again.

“I have to visit Commander Zavala myself, so just follow me and you’ll get right to the Hunter Vanguard. He will get you sorted and help you out. Probably”.

“You don’t trust him, do you?”, Tiamat points out.

The Titan shrugs. “In battle, I would trust any of the three with my life. Out of it, the Commander is the only one I follow”, he explains, this time without his usual smile.

Seems weird to her that he’d be so passionate about just one of them. Especially when they get to the meeting room and she sees the Warlock Vanguard. She walks up to Cayde-6, but her eyes are still locked on the woman. “Your jaw is practically unhinged”, Sho’s voice invades her mind.

A fake cough sounds next to Tiamat, and Ikora takes her eyes from the reports she was reading onto the other woman.

“Hunter, if you have a question that needs discussion, you are free to stop by at a later moment”, the Warlock says. “For now, happy though Cayde would be if I did his job for him, I suggest you pay attention to your own Vanguard”, she finished, an amused smile on her face.

“Ikora, I can never tell if you are complimenting or insulting me. Also, that was mean, leave the poor girl alone”, the Exo retorted, right before the new Hunter turned her head towards her Vanguard as if nothing had happened.

“Hey there, Guardian. What can I do for you? Actually, hold that thought, I know what”. He pulls up a screen, displaying three different gun models and a couple pieces of armor. “Pick one weapon, take the armor, go out there and shoot something. I recommend Old Russia. Beautiful place”, he says with an exaggerated expression, and Tiamat isn’t sure how serious he is. “Oh and stop by Amanda’s, tell her you need a ship. Good luck and all that, don’t die!”

She leaves moments after choosing a hand cannon and taking her new armor –just slightly better than scraps. When she meets the shipwright, she manages to hold herself together better than with Ikora. Holliday was beautiful too, sure, but the impression the Warlock made on her… She thanks Amanda for the ship, discarding those thoughts, and sets a path towards Old Russia.

After her fight with Isake she’s certain she needs more training, though she’s reluctant to let Sho know, just to avoid the told-you-so’s. So she goes to Russia, as Cayde-6 suggested, and gets to killing. She’ll rematch Isake one day, she’s sure of it, and she intends to win whenever they fight next, so she needs as much training as possible.


End file.
